ELAC Lady Huskies Advance To Elite 8-Defeat PCC in OT, 3/4/17

Note From The Editor:And the East Los Angeles College “Lady Huskies” just keep on winning as they pushed their overall season record to a spectacular and record-breaking 28-2. And all this comes at exactly the right time. With their third round South Regional playoff overtime victory versus the visiting Pasadena City College, “Lady Lancers” on Saturday, 3/4/17, Coach Bruce Turner and his team have once again earned their ticket to the “Elite Eight” State Tournament to be played at Las Positas College, in Livermoore, CA. located on the eastern edge of the San Francisco Bay area. This phase of the tournament begins on Friday, March 10th and runs through Sunday, March 12th. The Lady Huskies have drawn the College of the Siskyous(29-1) and #3 seed in the Northern Division, as their opponent. Tip-off will be at 3:00 pm. All Tournament games will be broadcast online by So Cal College Sports. To open their site and watch the game, please click here.

To see the most recent full slate of the California Community College Athletic Association’s (CCCAA) State playoff scores, the full tournament bracket, click here. To open the bracket, click on the link that says Tournament Bracket, found on the left hand side at the top of the page.

Brief Game Recap: Both teams struggled on offense in the first quarter as evidenced by the total score of 9-8, in favor of ELAC. The 2nd quarter was played a bit more uptempo and produced a four point edge for PCC, as they took a 3 point lead into the locker room at halftime, with the score reading 31-28. The second half was played very close with the Lady Huskies taking a slim single digit lead as the game was drawing to a close. However, a last minute rally by the Lady Lancers pulled them to within just 2 points. And with 1:11 remaining in the game, PCC stepped to the free throw line and tied the game up at 53-53. Eventhough both teams had their offensive oportunitites, there would be no further scoring in regulation. Thus, the mandatory 5:00 minute overtime period would have to be played. The Lady Huskies then steadied themselves under Coach Turner’s “close-out” strategies and were quick to score thanks to a dazzling seven point scoring outburst by the team’s veteran point guard, Allissa Gomez. The Lady Huskies then buckled down on defense forcing key turnovers and made big plays on offense when they were needed. To close out their opponent, a string of highly accuarate free throws secured the victory, with ELAC outscoring PCC, 17-11 in overtime for a Final Score of 70-64.

The most significant plays of the game came from: #14 Wuanyei Ah-Hingwho hit 2 “clutch” three-pointers in crucial points of the game, one of the biggest coming in overtime; #43 Monica Garcia who earned herself a respectable and much-appreciated “Double-Double” in points and rebounds (also add 2 steals, 1 block, and 1 assist); and #4 Allissa Gomez who poured in 19 second-half points and sank 13 of 15 free throws for the game, 8 of them in the tension-filled overtime period.

Congrats to both teams on a very competitive game! And now it’s on to the “Elite Eight” for ELAC where North meets South. And with a 4th round victory, another chance to return to the “Final Four,” and then hopefully, a second consecutive appearance in the Championship game on Sunday. Let’s Go Lady Huskies! Sî se puede!! We’ll be watching and cheering you on to victory! Rico Cabrera, Sr./Editor, EastLASportsScene.Com